Prevalence of abnormal gastric emptying in asymptomatic women with newly detected diabetes and its reversibility after glycemic control—A prospective case control study

Abstract Objective Effects of systemic hyperglycemia and normoglycemia on gastric emptying in people with type 2 diabetes are not clear. The aim of the study was to investigate the gastric emptying time in people with newly detected diabetes before and after control of diabetes compared with healthy controls. Methods Gastric emptying to solid meal was studied in 30 asymptomatic women with newly detected diabetes before and after achieving euglycemia and compared with 20 healthy age, sex and weight matched controls using egg white labelled with Technetium 99 m Sulfur Colloid. Results Delayed gastric emptying was seen in 90% of women with diabetes and none in healthy controls. Lag phase was 83.1 ± 11.8 min in cases compared to 37.2 ± 4.0 in controls ( p = 0.05). Gastric emptying at 4 h was 46.73% ± 4.84% in cases and 97.65% ± 0.59% in controls ( p = 0.05).T50 was 250 ± 8.8 min in cases against 94.70 ± 5.10 min in controls ( p < 0.05). After control of diabetes, lag phase normalized to 37.2 ± 4.0 min against 35.2 ± 4.6 min in controls. Similarly all other parameters also normalized after control of diabetes. Conclusions Delayed gastric emptying to solids was seen in 90% of women with type 2 diabetes at the time of hyperglycemia and normalized after control of diabetes.